Two young women wear tight clothes that show almost everything as they knock on truck doors at Gwayi Shopping Center. They try their luck along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway during early Friday morning hours. Music plays loudly inside nearby nightclubs, where people dance like the party just started. Many women hang around this temporary truck rest area where over a dozen trucks with local and foreign license plates have stopped.
After knocking on four different trucks with no luck, one woman finally succeeds when a driver opens his door, and she jumps inside fast. Her friend keeps looking around, hoping she can find another trucker who wants company. Several truck stops exist on this highway starting at Amakhosi Service Station in Bulawayo and continuing through Bernice Business Centre, Insuza Shopping Centre, Kenmur Business Centre, Lupane Business Centre, Jotsholo Business Centre, and Gwayi Shopping Centre.
The Chronicle newspaper investigated these prostitution rings all the way to Cross Dete Business Centre. A nightclub worker said these women approach clients very directly. They knock on doors and tell drivers exactly what services they offer. For them, making money matters most—they want to earn as much as possible before sunrise. A barman named Norman Ngulube explained that some sex workers rent backyard rooms from homeowners who live behind the truck stop.
According to Ngulube, prostitution has become a normal life at Gwayi Shopping Centre. He worries because young girls have started selling themselves to truck drivers, who always carry cash and spend it freely. When another truck arrived at the muddy parking area, a teenage girl emerged from dark corners and walked slowly between parked vehicles. She failed to attract anyone outside and decided to try her luck inside a club instead.
More trucks kept arriving until the small dirt parking area became completely packed. Busy nights bring over 30 trucks that stay overnight and leave around 4 am. The sex workers sleep during daylight hours and only work after dark. Jotsholo Business Centre sits next to the highway and stays quiet during daytime hours but transforms completely at night into a place known for prostitution. Reporters saw girls as young as 15 years old walking around at night.
The area functions basically as a red-light district. Older men, especially truck drivers, look for young teenage girls. At Cross Dete Business Centre, a woman called Mary explained her pricing system. She charges differently depending on the time spent with clients. She calls quick visits inside trucks a short time costing 5 dollars. Longer trips to nearby Hwange and back cost 30 dollars, and she calls these full nights.
Mary rents a house at Cross Dete but conducts all business inside trucks. She wants to protect her two small children from seeing what she does. Her younger sister watches the kids when Mary works, but Mary keeps her away from the truck stop area. She fears her sister might feel tempted by money that older men flash around to attract young girls. Mary pointed out a teenage girl nearby who had quit school and joined her older sister at the truck stop earlier that year.
Research by the Zimbabwe National Council for Welfare of Children found truck drivers target schoolchildren and teenage sex workers along major routes, including this highway. The International Labour Organisation started a project in 2010 to help sex workers create other ways to earn money. They wanted to fight HIV/AIDS through economic programs in the transport sector. Their main goal focuses on reducing infections and helping affected communities, especially transport workers and their families.
After knocking on four different trucks with no luck, one woman finally succeeds when a driver opens his door, and she jumps inside fast. Her friend keeps looking around, hoping she can find another trucker who wants company. Several truck stops exist on this highway starting at Amakhosi Service Station in Bulawayo and continuing through Bernice Business Centre, Insuza Shopping Centre, Kenmur Business Centre, Lupane Business Centre, Jotsholo Business Centre, and Gwayi Shopping Centre.
The Chronicle newspaper investigated these prostitution rings all the way to Cross Dete Business Centre. A nightclub worker said these women approach clients very directly. They knock on doors and tell drivers exactly what services they offer. For them, making money matters most—they want to earn as much as possible before sunrise. A barman named Norman Ngulube explained that some sex workers rent backyard rooms from homeowners who live behind the truck stop.
According to Ngulube, prostitution has become a normal life at Gwayi Shopping Centre. He worries because young girls have started selling themselves to truck drivers, who always carry cash and spend it freely. When another truck arrived at the muddy parking area, a teenage girl emerged from dark corners and walked slowly between parked vehicles. She failed to attract anyone outside and decided to try her luck inside a club instead.
More trucks kept arriving until the small dirt parking area became completely packed. Busy nights bring over 30 trucks that stay overnight and leave around 4 am. The sex workers sleep during daylight hours and only work after dark. Jotsholo Business Centre sits next to the highway and stays quiet during daytime hours but transforms completely at night into a place known for prostitution. Reporters saw girls as young as 15 years old walking around at night.
The area functions basically as a red-light district. Older men, especially truck drivers, look for young teenage girls. At Cross Dete Business Centre, a woman called Mary explained her pricing system. She charges differently depending on the time spent with clients. She calls quick visits inside trucks a short time costing 5 dollars. Longer trips to nearby Hwange and back cost 30 dollars, and she calls these full nights.
Mary rents a house at Cross Dete but conducts all business inside trucks. She wants to protect her two small children from seeing what she does. Her younger sister watches the kids when Mary works, but Mary keeps her away from the truck stop area. She fears her sister might feel tempted by money that older men flash around to attract young girls. Mary pointed out a teenage girl nearby who had quit school and joined her older sister at the truck stop earlier that year.
Research by the Zimbabwe National Council for Welfare of Children found truck drivers target schoolchildren and teenage sex workers along major routes, including this highway. The International Labour Organisation started a project in 2010 to help sex workers create other ways to earn money. They wanted to fight HIV/AIDS through economic programs in the transport sector. Their main goal focuses on reducing infections and helping affected communities, especially transport workers and their families.
